11 Facts About Animal Testing

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Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year.

92% of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials because they are too dangerous or don’t work.

Labs that use mice, rats, birds, reptiles and amphibians are exempted from the minimal protections under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).

Up to 90% of animals used in U.S. labs are not counted in the official statistics of animals tested.
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Europe, the world’s largest cosmetic market, Israel and India have already banned animal testing for cosmetics, and the sale or import of newly animal-tested beauty products.

Kidnap your friends’ products that were tested on animals.

Even animals that are protected under the AWA can be abused and tortured. And the law doesn’t require the use of valid alternatives to animals, even if they are available.

According to the Humane Society, registration of a single pesticide requires more than 50 experiments and the use of as many as 12,000 animals.

When used in cosmetic tests, mice, rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs are often subjected to skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed on shaved skin or dripped into the eyes without any pain relief.

In tests of potential carcinogens, subjects are given a substance every day for 2 years. Others tests involve killing pregnant animals and testing their fetuses.

The real-life applications for some of the tested substances are as trivial as an “improved” laundry detergent, new eye shadow, or copycat drugs to replace a profitable pharmaceutical whose patent expired.

“Alternative” tests achieve one or more of the “3 R’s:” replaces a procedure that uses animals with a procedure that doesn’t, reduces the number of animals used in a procedure, refines a procedure to alleviate or minimize potential animal pain.

Sources

1

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals "Top Five Shocking Animal Experimentation Facts." Web Accessed February 9, 2014.

2

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "Animal Testing Is Bad Science: Point/Counterpoint." Web Accessed March 2, 2015.